Kukukuku~ I get to tag team with Kara again for another Fall impression post. ‘Tis a good season indeed! I already know that Jormungand is a show I like since this is S2, so I can go in with a lot less uncertainty than some of the other anime who are just starting from episode 1. My expectations? Koko being loco and enough bullets fired to outweigh the combined bodyweight of all the steroid-pumped muscleheads in the show. That’s all I ask for.

Ahaha once again, OC and I are here to talk about violent anime. Is it any wonder why we get along well? Jormungand doesn’t feel like it’s been away for that long, so I’m more than ready to jump back into Koko and team’s adventures. The first episode (or should I call it episode 13?) certainly didn’t disappoint.

It’s good to know that Koko’s team didn’t lay off the steroids between season one and two.

Perfect Order Starts with a Bang-Where the first season gave us action and chaos pretty much every episode, season two has already started us off with something completely different. There was a hell of a lot more dialogue and explanations as opposed to anything in season one. The Operation Undershaft and Hex trying to kill Koko plot points have been going on this entire time and look like they’ll last more than one or two episodes, which is also rare for this anime. While the episode felt like a huge information dump, I found that it was a great change of pace between seasons. Like how Lagrange went from a slice of life comedy to a huge dramafest between seasons one and two, Jormungand feels like the first season was simply an introduction, and now in Perfect Order it’s going get serious. Even more so since they seemed to have lessened the focus on Jonah and have now spread it to all of the characters as a whole. …Or maybe that was just to connect the two seasons. I really do feel like the characters are more of their own people now though instead of just people who interact with Koko (…aside from her own team, which still feels like one entity). Even the OP seems to be giving everyone more attention.

Hex and Undershaft-If Hex was actually named after a hexagon instead of a witch’s curse, then I imagine she wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about geometric shape monologues, because Hex is all about being evil and manipulative. She’s a lovely addition to the cast of loonies, strutting centre-stage with her own brand of psychopathy. Hex maintains the same lusty tone of voice at all times. Even when delivering death threats, she maintains the same affectionate purr. This might just be because she was trying to be persuasive and sexy in the only scene we see her, but I have a gut feeling she’s the type of woman who is downright playful in the way she crushes other people. The most dangerous people in the show are those who can hide their emotions behind a cheerful front to lower everyone elses guard while remaining a complete mystery. Koko does it better than any poker player and just look at how far it’s gotten her!

Aside from being one of those tricky women who does whatever it takes to get what they want has a bigger role in Jormungand than stripping and allowing herself to be molested. She has some past beef with Koko that’s only started to surface now, and it’s strongly interfering with the ongoing Operation Undershaft being conducted by a separate party. She sent 3 assassins after Koko, which makes it harder for R to do his job and avoid suspicion. Hex is basically putting Undershaft in jeopardy by trying her hardest to kill Koko – a very different goal from what R and Saw want. She’s winning this little cat and mouse game for now since she has all the info needed to see the entire playing field.

Who is R?- I actually have no recollection of who R is. Koko’s army of muscle-heads all blur into one person in my mind. They are literally all the same entity, which is why R’s betrayal never exactly evoked an “OH SNAP!” moment from me. Now that we’ve been re-introduced, we can remember that R is actually the guy who is a double agent trying to get information about Koko. He’s been in hiding for 2 whole years without being found out…or at least dealt with. Whether or not Koko actually knows what’s up and just left him to his own devices isn’t quite clear. I don’t like to underestimate someone like Koko, you see. Anyways, R isn’t trying to kill her, but to put a leash on her (and the whole Hekmatyar family, eventually) and to steal her satellite communication system for their own military use. According to Spin, the entire operation is being lead by Bookman. However, until they find the right moment to strike, R is just gathering info for Saw and needs to remain undercover until then. This is why Saw is trying to find out who hired the assassins to make the plan go more smoothly. If R slips up and gets the blame pinned on him for acting out, then the plan is ruined. Koko knows someone from “The Company” sent the assassins, but no one seems to know the person behind all this is Hex.

Koko is Still Loco-It’s funny how an entire season has flown by and we still know as little about Koko as we did at episode one. I think there was some great things said about her character this episode like how in black and in white, she maintains her grey path. Seemingly nothing fazes her and she constantly has a smile on her face. Even Jonah, who seems to be one of the closest to her, knows pretty much nothing about her character. R, who has been with her for years, has never seen her break her poker face. She’s one scary woman for someone who smiles so much. Another interesting thing said was about her transformation into a dragon, as R put it. There’s no doubt she’s dangerous, but all the way back in episode one, she told Jonah straight out that her goal is world peace. It doesn’t seem like something she would lie about, even if her motives have been purposefully hidden. I think they revealed her intentions from the beginning, but they’re hiding the methods behind it since Koko is, well, just a tiiiiiny bit insane. Chances are, her vision of world peace is something attained through even more violence and warfare. …Well, I guess that would make the most sense since she DOES sell weapons for a living. If anything, I hope this season goes a bit more into just who Koko is. Chances are her past with Hex will reveal something.

End Thoughts:

Hitting us hard with an overarching plot instead of hitting a bunch of bodies with various explosives in the first episode really caught me off guard. I’m used to ample recap sequences for series that start a second season (especially after a break) and generally spend a long time doddering about until the viewer remembers what the hell the anime was about. Jormungand eases us back in by showing us some quick glances of how everyone from season 1 is doing (with mercifully short flashbacks as well!) and then builds on that to introduce a brand new arc. It’s an excellent episode that sets everything up, but is still incredibly fun to watch because of Hex and the conversations with or about Koko. I must say, Operation Undershaft seems like a really cool way to start season 2! Finally, Jormungand might be taking a more directional approach instead of just scattering petals into the wind and doing a bunch of episodic stories that don’t connect. I feel like we’re really going somewhere now, and that season 2 may just exceed season 1. I’m expecting great things from Koko and her team~

I think I said this above (or maybe not so clearly), but I’m impressed with the new direction that Jormungand is taking. They CAN make the plot make sense if they try! Even if this coherent explanation and longer plot only lasts for a few episodes, they certainly have me interested for the start of the season. Hex is a huge character to introduce now since she seems to be one of the main reasons Koko has to be on her guard against assassins (a topic which took up quite a few episodes last season), and also, Koko simply does not like the woman. There was definitely contempt in her conversation with Jonah, and that really caught my attention. Koko has the eternally smiling poker face. She doesn’t seem to let anyone get under her skin, yet she clearly hates Hex. …Or maybe I’m reading too much into that (since Koko has expressed dislike of other characters; I just don’t remember her talking so much about disliking anybody), but Hex really is an interesting character. Also, this season has brought up the fact that Koko’s tightly knit team might not be so tightly knit after all since R seems like a double agent. With the awesome new OP and ED as well, this looks like it will be one hell of a season.

8 Responses to “First Impressions – Jormungand Perfect Order”

Ohhhhh, what is this? Two sadists tag teaming a show about weapons, arms dealing (particularly an albino arms dealing shotacon), espionage with insane, dangerous and hot women? Well, I must say: Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor.

Has it really been a whole anime season since the ending of the first half? Didn’t seem that long. First episode and it hasn’t held back once on excitement. And the sexual tension has shot up drastically. A lot of it between Koko and Jonah now and also from the new girl Hex giving a strip tease to get information.

The launching of those satellites (126 of them) is telling me Koko wants to control the world, hence the title “Perfect Order” and her reasoning to Jonah saying she’s trying to achieve world peace. I did admire the music. It was French rapping though it took some time for me to notice because it was fast and I speak French.

Hex is a livewire. I’m already in love with her and she’s the complete opposite of Koko and a perfect antagonist. Like Koko, she keeps her true self hidden which makes all the more dangerous. Because of her, all those random assassination attempts actually make sense, bringing all the past events together and now there seems to be an actual plot building.

yormungand is a fun anime
i read the comics first and when i heard it being animated
i got very excited! thou i know the story already, the anime still proves to be fun, and awesome for some real action
Koko is a very attractive character, and i really enjoyed watching her doing pretty much everything, as the comic/anime progressed and though the last part of the comic was quite disappointing, because it was kind of overused theme, but i still liked how they concluded it(does that make sense? i have no idea what im talking about right now)
all i want to say is that im very excited for the show